


Show Me a Hero

by innerslytherin



Series: The Fifth Year [18]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-04
Updated: 2010-07-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 09:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerslytherin/pseuds/innerslytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a case shakes the faith of even seasoned FBI agents.  Everyone needs some reassurance now and then.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Show Me a Hero

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/profile)[**resolucidity**](http://resolucidity.livejournal.com/) for the beta. **SPOILERS for "Public Enemy".** Title is from the opening quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy."

  
"I suddenly don't think I want a church wedding at all," Emily muttered as Dave slumped next to her on the jet.

Dave snorted a laugh. "We'll just make sure to seat our least favorite relatives in the back row," he said, wishing they hadn't agreed to keep their behavior as professional as possible during 'business hours'. The case had left him depressed for some reason, and he wanted Emily's arms around him.

"That's awful," she said, but her gaze was affectionate. A morbid sense of humor was only one weapon in their arsenal of coping with the job. He felt lucky that she understood.

"Hey, at least I didn't say your mother," he replied, and chuckled when she kicked him gently. God, he loved her. He wished they were already married. They shouldn't waste any more time. He suddenly wasn't sure why he'd allowed her to talk him into waiting until summer. He caught her hand in his and laced their fingers together, and when she made a noise of protest, he just shifted their joined hands so no one would be able to see. It wasn't as if their relationship was a secret, anyway.

As she looked back at him, her expression softened. "I love you," she mouthed, the words barely audible. They seemed to come more easily for her these days, and he appreciated it. He squeezed her hand.

"Me too, babe," he breathed. He shook his head slowly, staring at her and trying to figure out when and how he'd gotten so damn lucky. He didn't deserve a woman like Emily Prentiss, and he knew it. He'd been an asshole most of his life, and even if he was changing--if this team and this woman were changing him--he sometimes felt as if he must have swapped places with someone more like Jimmy Davisson, because David Rossi sure as hell didn't deserve this.

Emily's expression became quizzical. "What?"

He realized he was squeezing her hand tightly, that his breath was coming a little faster. How had this case gotten to him so badly? Had it been the sullying with human bloodshed of a covenant built on holy blood? Had it been seeing the little girl still looking forward to her First Communion with such faith, despite the loss of her father? Had it been the pain caused by a man so angry and alone he was at war with his entire community?

He shook his head.

"Hey," Emily said, moving closer. Her other hand cupped his and dimly he realized she was touching him with no concern about what the team saw. "You really okay?"

Dave shook his head. Then he nodded. Finally he cleared his throat. "I just love you so God-damn much," he whispered, and her expression melted entirely.

She spent the rest of the flight with Dave in her arms, and the rest of the team kindly pretended not to see.

***

"Reid and I will run point." The words had sent a silly run of happiness through his veins. It seemed like it had been too long since he and Aaron were working a case together like this. It felt good. It felt like old times, somehow, even though the BAU had been a team effort as long as Spencer had been with the FBI.

He supposed it had something to do with the fact that, although Gideon had recruited him, Hotch had been the one who really convinced him. Hotch had been more of a mentor than Gideon had, and Hotch was the one who had been concerned for his emotional well-being.

Not to mention Spencer and Hotch had always been the best working pair out of the early team. Reid and Elle had gotten along, but he'd never really understood her. Gideon had been too emotionally distant. Morgan had been the way Reid imagined an older brother was--sometime antagonist, sometime confidant, sometime backup. JJ and Garcia were always there, but they didn't work the cases the way the rest of them did.

So Spencer and Aaron, together again, was like old times.

But it was better, because of the newness between them too. They might be settling into their relationship post-Foyet, but it was still so new to Reid.

New to him, too, was a detective saying something like, "Your gut must be telling you something."

He didn't think he'd ever had a cop expect him to have hunches. It was weird, but it made him wonder if he was blending in well enough finally. Maybe he was blending in too well. He wondered if a question like that would somehow make him not special anymore.

He answered the question, even though he really didn't know how to ask his 'gut' about what the unsub might do. He thought he did a decent job of bluffing his way through it.

He wondered if he should have.

***

Aaron had seen the way his team was reacting to the case. It was painful, watching Dave's faith trespassed against. It was just as bad, in its own way, to see JJ's motherhood trampled on. Emily was worried about Dave. Spencer was a solid support in the background. Morgan was, for once, blessedly uncomplicated.

Aaron could see Morgan stepping up, and he was grateful. Morgan supported JJ when she needed it. He held himself back and let Dave take charge when he needed it. More and more Aaron had become convinced that Morgan had changed from the man who single-handedly drove a bomb into Central Park away from the team.

There were times that Aaron found himself wondering if the team really needed him anymore.

Those times often came at bedtime, when Jack's eyes refused to stay open, eyelashes--thick, lush ones inherited from Aaron--fluttering stubbornly against his cheeks in an effort to stay awake just _one more minute_. Or sometimes when Aaron saw Jessica looking down at Jack, her nose and neck too long to be Haley, but the expression no less one of motherly pride than what her sister would have worn. Or when Aaron and Spencer were settled on the couch together, watching something delightfully geeky on the Discovery Channel, and Spencer was falling asleep but still trying to share something he'd read on the topic.

Would the day come when the team no longer needed Aaron Hotchner? _Had_ the day already come?

But even as he asked himself that, standing in the police station and waiting for JJ's response, he knew he couldn't give this up. Even if the team didn't need him, he needed them.

He had ached that he had to ask JJ to walk away from a grieving wife and mother. But someone had to control the press, and JJ was their expert. She knew them better than Aaron did, better than anyone did. And that was why Aaron was needed. Morgan still didn't have the father-figure authority.

"Am I too stern?" Aaron asked softly. He and Spencer were almost home. It was late and Aaron had decided not to wake Jack and Jessica in order to pick up his son. He would get up early tomorrow and drag Spencer over to Jessica's for breakfast.

Spencer glanced over at him, mouth quirked. "Am I too weird?" he countered.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, then laughed faintly. "I'll take that for a no."

He smiled as Spencer's eyes widened. "I didn't mean that as a no!" Spencer protested. "I _am_ too weird! Yes, you're too stern. Not always, I mean. Not lately so much. Lately you've been sad, and that's different, and it's okay, but I mean--"

After a moment Spencer broke off and sighed. "None of that is what I meant to say. I just--Oh shit."

Aaron couldn't remember the last time he heard Spencer swear. He laughed and reached over to take Spencer's hand, lacing their fingers together. "Never mind."

"No, the thing is, you're wonderful. And you never seem to realize you're wonderful. So you're stern, but I don't want to tell you you're stern, because it's not a criticism." Spencer frowned at him. "You never seem to realize how special you are."

Aaron parked the car and looked over at Spencer. "I realize how lucky I am," he murmured. "But it's not quite the same thing."

"No, it's not." Spencer studied him for a long moment, then leaned across the car and kissed him hard. "You're so incredibly special, Aaron. And--andIloveyou." A sickly expression crossed his face and then he got out, shutting the door quickly behind him.

Aaron sat still for a long moment, staring blankly at the instrument panel of the car. Had Spencer said what Aaron thought he had? He shut off the car and got out, then realized Spencer was halfway across the yard to the playground where Jack liked to swing.

Hurriedly Aaron slammed the car door and ran after Spencer, but with those long legs back at full health, Spencer had reached the merry-go-round and was sitting on it, looking miserable, before Aaron caught up with him.

Aaron knelt in front of Spencer, ignoring the noise of horror Spencer made when Aaron's suit-clad knees hit the dirt.

"Did you just say that you love me?" Aaron said quietly.

Spencer's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, then he nodded and looked hesitantly up to meet Aaron's gaze.

The back of Aaron's throat ached as he nodded too and reached up to cup Spencer's cheek. "I love you too," he managed.

He wondered if it was possible to die of happiness.

***

"I saw the check."

Emily's voice was low and warm through the darkness of their bedroom. She was pressed naked against his side, her fingers trailing idly through the scattering of hair on his chest. Her lips brushed his shoulder. The sex had been good, but he knew he'd been more absent than was his wont.

"It was a good thing to do," she murmured, and Dave felt a pressure ease off him. He'd worried that it was wrong somehow, to spend his money--his and Emily's money, really--on someone he had met once and would never meet again. But his chest tightened again at her next words.

"But can I make a suggestion?"

Dave swallowed and then had to clear his throat. "What?" he asked, still sounding hoarser than he would like.

"Send her a letter too. Something that explains you're not just using your checkbook in place of your emotions." Emily's tone was tender or he would have bristled. Instead he just sighed.

"It's not something I'm good at," he admitted. "When I pissed off my wives, I bought things. Roses, diamonds...a horse once. That was a mistake."

Emily's surprised laughter almost startled him, but it loosened the knot in his chest again, and he felt himself relax. "God. Dave, I like horses, but please don't ever buy me one."

He smiled faintly. "You're different. I know how to talk to you most of the time. I think you've done something horrible to me."

"Mm, maybe I just made you finally grow up," she murmured.

"You did. All of you." Dave sighed and closed his eyes. "From the moment you showed up in Indy with the team behind you...I knew I was in over my head, not just with you, but with the whole thing. But I admit, I loved it." He pulled her close and kissed her temple. "I still love it. And I love you most of all."

Emily hummed and lifted her face for a proper kiss. "I love you too," she murmured. "And that's why I'm saying, in all seriousness, you need to write Sophia a letter. Explain why you sent the check and explain why your faith is so important to you. She ought to know you, more than just some name on a check and a distant celebrity who caught the guy who killed her dad. You'll be a hero to her no matter what, but the best heroes in life are the ones we can touch from time to time."

Dave squeezed her gently and closed his eyes. Hotch, he thought after a moment. If there was a single person who was a hero to Emily Prentiss, it was Hotch. And she knew he was human and available, even if he was stoic and compartmentalized and stern.

"Okay," he agreed. "You want to come to church with me Wednesday?"

She laughed again, but it was softer this time. "Yeah," she murmured, snuggling against him. It reminded his body that she was still naked, and he grinned. They'd have a hell of a lot of sins to confess, but Jimmy knew him, and anyway, Dave figured Emily had a lot fewer to confess than he did. "Sounds good to me."  



End file.
